The United Kingdom has increased its export-finance country limit for Oman by £1.6 billion, taking the available capacity to up to £7 billion, in a package announced after Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s state visit.
The increase was set out in a joint statement issued on 23 October, following the Sultan’s visit to the UK from 20 to 22 October. The Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, and the Sultan met at 10 Downing Street on 21 October and agreed priorities for closer work on security, defence, trade, investment, technology and institutional links.
The larger limit creates up to £7 billion of capacity to support UK exports to Oman. It is capacity rather than a £7 billion award, investment commitment or payment. The announcement identifies no individual project receiving that amount and does not say that the capacity has already been used.
Finance capacity alongside green-industry plans
UK Export Finance and Oman’s Net Zero Centre have also announced stronger cooperation intended to support green and decarbonisation projects. The two sides described sustainable, secure and responsible development as the aim of that work. A proposed Oman Green Growth Roadshow delegation is due to be welcomed in the UK in 2027, rather than forming part of an already delivered project.
The statement also sets out a Sovereign Partnership for Cooperation and Promotion of Investment, intended to link the UK’s Office for Investment with the Oman Investment Authority. Its agenda covers green growth, advanced technologies, critical minerals, space, innovation, scale-up finance, industrial clusters and regional connectivity. The partnership is framed as a focal point for long-term cooperation, not as evidence that investment has already been deployed in each sector.
Net Zero Industry Wales and the Oman Net Zero Centre plan to launch a separate knowledge-sharing partnership between industrial clusters, renewable-energy sectors, universities and public bodies. The governments said this would support links across those networks while Oman pursues economic diversification.
Space and education agreements
Technology is another part of the package. The UK Space Agency and Oman National Space Programme have agreed to share best practice, explore future cooperation on space launch and encourage commercial partnerships. That agreement establishes a channel for work between the organisations; it does not announce a launch programme or a completed commercial deal.
In education, the two countries welcomed a British Council pilot using artificial-intelligence-assisted education in Omani schools. They also said the Chevening Scholarship would reopen for the first time since 2021. New scholarships involving the Oman Net Zero Centre and Cardiff University, alongside stronger links on skills and professional qualifications, were included in the wider set of people-to-people measures.
The agenda extends to cyber security, defence expertise, military cooperation and national resilience. Both countries welcomed preparations for the Saif Sareea IV exercise and said they would explore the next phase of long-term exercise cooperation, including capability development, testing, experimentation and maritime-security information exchange. These are commitments to further work, not a report that the next phase has begun.
Trade agreement remains to be signed
Ministers also discussed steps towards the anticipated UK-Gulf Cooperation Council free trade agreement. The joint statement says such an agreement could create further opportunities for UK-Oman trade and investment once it is signed and implemented. It does not say that an agreement has been signed or that new tariff arrangements are in force.
The immediate, measurable change in the package is the higher export-finance limit. The space agreement and the reopening of Chevening are further defined actions, while many other elements set objectives, working arrangements or prospective programmes. The UK and Oman said they would monitor progress against the agreed priorities, making later decisions and reported implementation important tests of how the partnership develops.
